“One and one-third,” she said and pulled a knife out from the holder on top of the counter so she could open the bag of chocolate chips.
“Hey, now. I thought I was going to show you my cooking skills.”
“Yeah, but I’m starving.” She poured herself a handful of chocolate chips and stuffed them all in her mouth.
We both laughed.
“I wished I didn’t have to go to work.” I added a stick of butter to the pan and snatched the chocolate chips away from Zoe.
“It’s an obligation?”
“In a big way.” I mixed up the batter and poured some into the pan, then grabbed a plate.
“You told me your work was really intense. I still can’t imagine what your life must be like.”
“It’s not something that you get used to. You have to fight constantly.” I lifted the pan up, flipped the pancake in the air, and caught it with the pan.
“I can never get that right.”
“It’s all in the wrist.” I pulled the pancake off the heat and set it on the plate.
Zoe already had the syrup ready. She snatched the pancake up and replaced the plate with a fresh one. We took our time eating, prolonging our breakfast as long as possible. But eventually, I had to call a driver to take her home so she could get changed.
When I got back up to my room and started getting ready, I could still smell her perfume, like gold and roses, swimming through the air. It was elusive. I could never get a full taste of the smell, but that was part of the allure. I’d have to bring Zoe back and make sure the smell stayed.
I hadn’t checked my phone since I woke up. I didn’t want to, but I knew that I had to get to work eventually, so I took it off the nightstand. I had thirty emails, mostly from the Navy asking about orders for Rick’s sensor.
I decided to pay Rick a visit at the warehouse before I drove up to the office. When I walked inside, a group of techs were standing around, smoking, and drinking coffee. One, a skinny white boy with his hat pulled to the side, caught my eye.
He looked back at the rest of the group, clearly terrified, and they all stopped talking and snuffed out their cigarettes. “Sir.” He walked up. “Is there anything you need?”
“Fix your hat, boy.” I reached out and pulled it to the front.
He went bright red. “Sorry, sir.”
“I’m just fucking with you. Wear your hat however you want. Where’s Rick?”
He gestured at the airstrip, where Bess was circling overhead.
“Go get me a radio,” I said.
“Yes, sir.” He had the straight-backed demeanor of a soldier with the swagger of a punk. It was a strange mix, one that I couldn’t help but find amusing.
He went into the office and ran back out with a walkie-talkie. “Here you go, sir.”
“Thank you.” I took it from him and pressed the talk button.
“Richard Montes,” I said with a screechy voice. “Your joy ride is over. Get down here this instant.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Sixty lashes,” I barked, using my best drill sergeant voice.
“Yes, ma’am.” He dipped and landed the plane effortlessly. Then he jumped out of the cockpit and ran back into the warehouse. His hair was flaring out on all sides.
“You look like Mexican Einstein.”
“Si, señor.” He let his voice draw out with a fake Mexican accent.
“What is going on with the sensor? I have six bigwigs crawling up my ass.”
“We sent it out to the plants. I’ll them send up a briefing.”
“Rick…” I shook my head.
“You got laid.”
“It was more than getting laid. It was like being with an angel, and the best part is that she doesn’t care about the kids.”
“Really?” I noticed more than a hint of skepticism in his voice.
“Yes, and it wasn’t just a quick dismissal of the issue. She came right up to me, looked me in the eye, and told me that she’d be honored to have them in her life.”
“I don’t know how you did it, but if she doesn’t mind dealing with them, then you’ve got a keeper.”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t plan on getting my hopes up. I don’t want to be disappointed, but I think we have something.”
“I’m happy for you, man.”
“I’m worried, though. Last night was terrible. I took her out to eat then we danced at the street music festival.”
“How was that? I keep meaning to go.”
“It was great until the guy who we saw hitting on her at the club tried to bash my face in with a metal bar.”
“Whaaaat?”
“I lost control. He hit the pavement before he even knew what was going on. Then I started kicking him over and over. Zoe had to pull me away.”
“Is he dead?”
“Not yet.” Rick grinned at that. “I’m worried that he’s going to come back to the bakery and hassle Zoe. He’s been hanging around there a lot. I called Jo to keep an eye on things, but I don’t think it’s enough. The man can’t sit there forever.”
“What are you going to do?”
“You know me. I don’t fuck around when it comes to people’s safety. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to make sure that he doesn’t get to her.”
“Pshht,” he scoffed. “You’re crazy.”
“I get the job done.” I looked over the sensor again, trying to get a feel for what Rick had done. He was already starting to integrate some of his upgrades. It looked amazing. I called my accountant before I left and instructed him to give Rick a bonus without telling him.
Chapter Twenty
Zoe
When Archer stepped outside to call his driver, I expected the man to roll up in a limousine with a full bar and a desktop computer with a flat screen display. Instead, he’d ordered a sleek white convertible with a smooth body and an engine so powerful that the driver barely had to touch the accelerator.
I had the driver roll the top down so I could feel the cold air blasting me in the face, hoping it would make me wake up and focus. All it did was mess up my hair.
I made it home and got ready for work. Chloe called when I got out of the shower. I dried my hands off and wrapped the towel around me before I answered and grabbed a brush so I could ease out some of the tangles.
“Hello?”
“Zoe…” Chloe whined.
“I don’t care if six Mr. Beetles come into the store. You’re not getting away with this one again. Archer got us a guard.”
“A guard?”
“Yes. You don’t have to worry.” I pulled the brush through my hair.
“I don’t want to drive to work alone, Zoe. Can we use the buddy system?”
“Then I’d have to drive all the way to your house, wait for you to get ready, then drive back to the bakery. It’s too much of a hassle.”
“I’m outside.”
“Seriously?” I looked out my front window. She waved at me.
“Give me a second.” I hung up and went back to hacking at my hair with the brush. I got ready as fast as I could, but we were still late in leaving. Fortunately, Chloe already had coffee waiting for me, so I had a lot of energy when we pulled up.
“How’d you manage to get up this early?” I unlocked the back door.
“I’ve been up all night worrying.”
“About Mr. Beetle?”
“Yes. I don’t like it. I know it’s weird, but he’s starting to get me. I can’t get rid of that smell, and every time I close my eyes, I see him looking at me through those thick glasses of his.” She hunched down like a turtle, cocked her head, and squinted. It was a perfect impression. “Hey, Zoe.” Her voice was too high, but I laughed anyway.
I grabbed my apron and put it on. “He attacked Archer last night.”
“You did not just say that.” She pulled a muffin off a cooling rack. “What happened?”
“Last night, Archer took me to that lobster place I like, and they were havin
g the street music festival, so we danced in the square, and this jazz lady was singing. It was wonderful. Then out of nowhere, Beetle ran out of the crowd with a metal bar and bashed him in the face.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. I’m more worried about Mr. Beetle. Archer lost control when Beetle went after him. He dropped Beetle and kept kicking him in the ribs. I had to pull him away before things went too far.” I went into the walk-in to pull out a box of oranges and fresh ginger root.
When I turned around, Chloe was leaning against the door, looking at me with her mouth hanging slightly open. “So, Archer lost control?”
“It wasn’t that bad. I mean, Beetle did attack him.”
“Yeah, but still. You said Archer lost control. Do you think he would’ve stopped if you hadn’t pulled him away?”
I walked past her and set the produce down on the table. “I know what you’re getting at, and it’s a bunch of crap. He was just being protective.”
“There’s a fine line between protection and aggression, and I know, whether you’ll admit it or not, that he crossed it.”
I turned to look at Chloe. “I’m surprised you’re reacting like this. You’ve been so freaked out by Mr. Beetle, you don’t even want to be in the bakery by yourself. What would you do if Beetle tried to come at you?”
She took a bite of her muffin, chewed, and swallowed. “You’ve got a point.”
“Archer’s reaction was a little much, but I don’t really blame him.”
“Just be careful.”
“I’m all right. Now help me zest these oranges.”
She lifted her hands to show me the peels embedded underneath her fingernails. “I’ve had enough zesting for a lifetime.”
“Then do the ginger.”
“It burns. I’ll make the cookie mix.”
“Despite everything that happened with Mr. Beetle, I think things with Archer are going to go well.” I pulled a zester off the rack above the stove. “He told me that he really likes me and that he wants to keep seeing me.”
“Are you sure he’s being honest? You told me you thought he was hiding something.” Chloe set her muffin down and wrestled a bag of flour out from under the sink.
“I forgot.” I set the zester down. “He told me what it was.”
“What?” Chloe set the sack down. “I have to know.”
“Look.” I pulled out my phone. “He sent me these this morning.” I turned the phone around so she could see the picture of the twins.
“Aw.” She grabbed the phone from my hand to get a look. “Look at their little faces.”
“I know. Aren’t they darling? Those are his kids. That’s what he wasn’t telling me.”
“Of course, you know what this means.” She handed the phone back to me. “This means you can’t get with him.”
“What? Why not? Can’t you just be happy for me?”
“I’m just saying.” She opened the flour bag and poured it into the mixer. “Those boys are going to give you hell.”
“So what if they do? I can handle it.”
She looked at me with one eyebrow raised.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you remember when Jayden was born?”
“Of course.”
“Do you remember what it was like every morning when I got to school? I was tired as hell.”
“I’m not worried.”
“Maybe you should be. Jayden was just one baby. They’re twins.”
“Archer said the same thing. He didn’t think I could handle them, and he didn’t want me to have to deal with the trouble, but I don’t care. I like him. I want to see this through, and I want you to be happy for me. You’re always raining on my parade.”
“Fair enough. I hope things work out.” The doorbell rang. Chloe was busy wrestling the mixer, so I walked out.
“You must be Archer’s friend.” I saw it immediately. The man was covered in tiny black hairs all over his body, wearing a black polo shirt and matching slacks with a gun on his hip.
“You’re Zoe?”
“Yes, and I really want to thank you for coming. This means the world to me. Would you like something to eat? On the house.”
“No, that’s fine.” He looked around. “Is that real?” He pointed to a camera above the register.
“Yes, do you want to see the feed?”
“Yeah, I need to know what this prick looks like.”
“Come on back.” I walked him around the counter into the office so he could go through the camera images. He stopped on a picture of Mr. Beetle walking in. “That’s got to be him.”
“It is.”
“Disgusting creature. Why would you even let him in the store?”
“I told you,” Chloe called out from the kitchen.
“He seemed harmless, at first. And when he got weirder, I didn’t want to make a scene. I didn’t want people to think the bakery was unsafe. In fact, while you’re here, I can’t have you attacking him or bringing the police. Just make it clear that he’s not allowed. If he comes back after that, we’ll figure things out from there.”
“You’re not handling this properly.” He stood up. “He’s going to come back, and I might not be here when that happens.”
I sighed and leaned against the doorframe. “Do what you have to do. Just don’t hurt him or disturb the customers.”
“I don’t get to hurt him?” He looked disappointed.
“People aren’t going to want to come here if they see some guy getting attacked in the parking lot. It’s bad for business.”
Jo shrugged. “I could make it quiet. Nothing too extreme. Maybe a broken arm—or two.”
“I’m standing firm on this one,” I said.
“Suit yourself.” He ducked past me and walked out so he could post up in front of the store.
“He seems nice,” Chloe said as she poured sugar into the mixer. “How many people do you think he’s killed?”
“I don’t care how many people he’s killed, so long as he keeps Beetle away.”
“Haven’t you ever wondered what his real name is?” She cocked her head, stroking her chin. “Menard.”
“Menard?” I laughed.
“He looks like a Menard, doesn’t he?”
“He does, doesn’t he?” I went back to zesting my oranges.
“Or maybe Orlando.”
“No, for that he’d have to have a fake gold necklace and a chest full of hair.”
“Eeew,” she screeched and pretended to retch.
“I’m more focused on Archer.”
“Are you going to see him tonight?”
“Yeah, he’s making dinner.”
“Is he any good?”
“He’s decent. He flipped a pancake in the air this morning.”
“Then tonight you’re going to have to wake up at three in the morning so he can put the twins back to bed.”
“I’d gladly do it—just so long as I get a few hours with him.”
“That good?”
“I refuse to answer that.” I set one orange down and started working on another. “You know, I’ve been thinking of candying these. We go through so many. It’s a waste.”
“You want to use them as garnish?”
“I think it would be good, don’t you?”
“Maybe. I think it’d be better if we used them for juice for the morning crowd.”
“That’s exactly what we are going to do. Get out the juicer. A buck-fifty a cup.”
“You’re going to make me do it?”
“As punishment for the zesting.”
“Oh, all right.”
We spent the rest of the day dancing around the subject that was always on my mind. Chloe didn’t like Archer, but she didn’t see what I saw. Her stomach wasn’t fluttering. She didn’t space out halfway through a batch of cookies. She didn’t understand. She thought that I was some blind, love-sick puppy.
I wanted to talk to her and tell her about all of the things I was feeli
ng, but I couldn’t. That bothered me. We were always so close. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t like Archer. Maybe she was jealous because she didn’t have somebody. Maybe she was worried about me. By the end of the day, I’d decided that it was a little of both.
The day went by without incident. It was almost closing time. I was hunched over the mop sink, filling up the bucket, when Chloe ran into the kitchen. “I thought you were joking when you said he was rich.”
“No, he’s rich. Why?” I pulled the bucket out of the sink and dragged it past her so I could mop the kitchen.
“Somebody just pulled up in a limousine, and now some guy is in the lobby saying that he’s Archer’s driver. How rich is he?”
“That’s none of my business, much less yours.”
“What have you gotten yourself into? People like that are dirty as sin. They have all sorts of trouble. They’re not safe. People are always going after them, and that’s not to mention the effect that money has on a person’s personality.”
“Archer is so far from that it’s not even funny. Do you really think I’d date some pompous rich guy?”
“That world isn’t pretty. Where did he get that kind of money?”
“He’s a defense contractor.”
“He makes weapons of mass destruction!?”
“Shut up. His driver’s outside.”
“Fine.” She threw up her hands in the air and started wiping down the table. “But if something happens…”
“Nothing is going to happen, all right?”
She shut her mouth and went back to cleaning. I left her my keys so she could close up and drive my car back to my place, where she’d left her car this morning. Then I got into the limousine.
The drive to Archer’s house was surreal. Chloe could say what she wanted about his money, but I was enjoying myself. I got to watch the people stare as we drove through downtown, and I had the luxury of a shot of whatever liquor I wanted—should I choose to drink.
There was even a TV embedded in the divider. I didn’t use any of the amenities, but it was wonderful to know that I had them. When I got to the house, the driver pulled in front and walked around to open my door. “Do you do that for everyone?” I asked.
“No, Mr. Archer’s orders.” He reached into his pocket and produced a crimson, velvet lined box.
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